1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to measuring devices; specifically, to a marking device for attaching to a tape measure.
2. Description of Related Art
Standard tape measuring devices are generally comprised of a span of ductile metal tape which is imprinted with either U.S. standard or metric units of measure of length and coiled around a housing-encased spool. A user retracts the tape from the housing, places the tape against a surface and measures out a desired span across the surface. It is often important for skilled craftsmen and the like to mark the surface at various specific and precisely measured distances.
Examination of the pertinent prior art reveals a number of marking attachments for measuring tapes. The prior art marking attachments incorporating a slide mechanism, for example, have used either an attached leading edge to etch a mark physically into the surface being measured (U.S. Pat. No. D320,168), or an attached guiding hole to aid the user in placing a mark on the surface so long as they are using a marking instrument that is separate and independent from the tape measure device itself, such as a pen or pencil (U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,869). These attachment devices fail to meet the need of the field: to enable a user of a tape measure to make precise marks upon a measured surface without marring the surface or requiring the user to access an independent marking instrument.